A Word to the Wise

Scenes in American cities over the past few evenings make uncomfortable viewing.  There have been riots and looting before in many cities in the USA, and on occasion in Britain.  But Fantasy Bob does not recall these ever being commented on by the President (or Prime Minister) with the words, 'When the looting starts, the shooting starts.'  FB might be wrong but these words, and the sentiment behind them, seem to him ill chosen.

It brings to FB's mind instances in cricket when ill-chosen words have come back to haunt the speaker.  The outstanding example is Tony Greig's Grovel interview.  In 1976 in a TV interview before the First Test against the West Indies he said, "I'm not really sure they're as good as everyone thinks. These guys, if they get on top they are magnificent cricketers. But if they're down, they grovel, and I intend, with the help of Closey and a few others, to make them grovel."

To say this incensed the West Indian players and their support is an understatement.  As many subsequent accounts and interviews tell, they felt strongly this was a racial slur.  They only knew one response and their fast bowlers, helped by a hot dry summer which hardened wickets, let rip.  They blew England away at Headingley and Old Trafford and dominated the Final Test at the Oval.  Play was actually interrupted by a pitch invasion of West Indian fans when Greig hgad been dismissed by Michael Holding.  Clive Lloyd, with a first innings lead of 252, did not enforce the follow-on.  Roy Fredericks and Gordon Greenidge cut loose in an unbeaten first-wicket stand of 182 in 32 overs. As the noise from the spectators increased in the afternoon heat, Greig slowly walked towards the phalanx of noisy West Indian support and sank to his knees, grovelling to the crowd. They roared their delight. "I realise that I made a mistake in using that word at the start of the series and they haven't let me forget it," he told the press that night.  England lost the match, Holding bagging 14 wickets, and the series.  It was the start of West Indies domination of the game.

A West Indian fast bowler is also at the centre of one of the other great examples of ill-judged words. In 1993 during an ODI at Sydney, the mercurial Australian batsman Dean Jones asked Curtley Ambrose to remove the wristbands he was wearing. Which he did. Not with particularly good grace.  He put the burners on and took 5-32 as Australia were demolished.  Ambrose smouldered for the subsequent Test series, which West Indies won 2-1. Ambrose took 33 wickets, including a spell of 7-1 in the final match, and was judged the player of the series. Jones' popularity with his team mates (perhaps never particularly high) took a bit of a pounding - it is well known that Mark Taylor watching from the other end as Jones made his request yelled out, "What are you doing? I have two kids. What are you thinking?"

Taylor's comment is recorded in the fascinating account of this incident which Dean Jones wrote some years after.  In it, he tells that he was batting with a broken thumb, injured by Wasim Akram in the previous match.  He also notes that Steve Waugh who also had a run-in with Ambrose made his peace with Ambrose in way that Jones was unable to, and sthey successfully marketed together sweatbands as memorabilia.  This article is worth reading - find it on this link.

Of course, the President is disadvantaged in that he does not have the heritage of cricket to draw on.  Had he this privilege, he might have recalled these instances and paused before pressing send.  Or, there again, he might not have.